Long Lost Friend
by Azreal Ezra
Summary: Because of Ino, Shikamaru left the village for 5 years. Now he's back and everyone is anxious to see him. Did he move on? Or will he want his old friends back?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my second story. Still learning a bit. KakuSaku is my fav paring but I thought I would try something new.**

**I don't own Naruto. Obviously **

Sakura was excited. She had been summoned to the Hokage's office. She hadn't been on a mission in forever. She was always stuck in the hospital and on-call every hour of the day and night. She was feeling the itch to get back out in the world…in more ways than one.

Sakura was 23. She had grown quite a bit. She let her hair grow out a little bit to just below her shoulders. She had curves in all the right places. Her chest wasn't as big a Tsunade's or Ino's. She felt adequate. Her bust appealing enough without getting in the way during missions or her work at the hospital. She had a firm, lean body that didn't look overly muscular. She didn't want to look manly. And she had finally, FINALLY, grown into her forehead. She was intelligent, and was the best medic-nin in Konoha. She had even surpassed Tsunade. But even with all of those things on her side, she still managed to be single.

She went on a few dates when she actually had time. But none actually ended well. She found that the guys asking her out certainly were interested in her. But they weren't interested at all with her mind or intelligence. They were more interested in how fast they could get her unclothed. And she just wasn't really into that. At least not on the first date. But none of the guys seemed to be able to make it past that.

She finally made it to the Hokage's office. Brushing a hair out of her face, she knocked and opened the door. "Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from behind the Hokage's desk. Sakura smiled warmly at him. They barely had time to see each other anymore. With Sakura always at the hospital and Naruto with Tsunade, grooming to become the next Hokage, it was rare they could even meet for lunch anymore.

"Good morning Naruto. Is Shishou having you do her paperwork again?" Sakura said giggling as she sat in one of the seats in front of the desk.

"UGH! Yes! It's like she saves it up for me or something! I can't feel my hand, I've signed so many papers!" Naruto said with a huff of frustration. Sakura laughed loudly at this.

"Well I would hate to disturb your work, but Shishou sent for me. Do you know what it's about?" Sakura leaned forward to possible catch a peak at what possible mission she had, if any. Naruto saw this and quickly shut all of the folders in front of him. Smiling he said, "No peaking Sakura-chan!" he laughed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. Sakura gave him her best pouty face she possibly could.

Naruto sighed, slightly defeated. "I know you have been itching to get out of the village and go on a real mission for quite some time. But all I could really dig up that wasn't an extended mission was to search for some medical herbs the village is getting low on. The council rambled off some nonsense about you being too important and valuable to send out for an extended mission in case you were needed for surgery or something…. Sorry Sakura-chan." He looked down at the floor disappointment written all over his face.

Sakura was disappointed, but not with him. 'Stupid council with their stupid theories! I'll never get out of this village now…' Sakura thought dejectedly to herself. "It's ok Naruto. I know you tried your hardest, so thank you. I'll accept the mission." She said softly with a caring smile on her face.

Naruto smiled back, handing her a scroll. "Sakura Haruno. Your mission is to retrieve the listed medical herbs for our village. You will have one week to do so. Report to the main gates in 2 days at 5 am. The 'tag-a-long' that the council demanded you have will meet you there."

Sakura's mouth opened in shock. "A baby sitter? They think I need a baby sitter?" Sakura said loudly, slowly standing up. "Calm down Sakura." Naruto said in a very serious voice. "You're lucky you even get to go at all. Take what you can get." Sakura sighed loudly. "I know…. Thank you, Naruto." She bowed slightly, turned and walked to the door.

Right when she opened the door, she turned around and saw Naruto was already back to his paperwork. She smiled. "Naruto?" "Hm?" the blonde didn't look up at her. "Who is my partner on this mission? You never mentioned." Naruto looked up at her finally, a big smile on his face. "Shikamaru"

Sakura froze. She was stunned. "He's finally back!" She said as more of a statement than a question. Naruto chuckled. "Yup, just got back last night. He got checked out at the hospital and was cleared for mission duty. He asked for another mission, but I wanted to give him a bit of a break since he's been gone for over 5 years. So I gave him a few days to catch up with his family and then off on an easy mission with you."

"Alright. Well thanks Naruto. Make sure you are giving your hand a break here and there." Sakura said walking out the door. "Sure Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with a laugh. Just as the door was about to close, Sakura peaked her head back in. "Oh and Naruto?" Naruto glanced up at her again. "Yes Sakura-chan." "Let's do lunch soon ok?" She said with a smile. It really has been such a long time since she had seen him. "Of course Sakura, when you get back from your mission I'll make sure to schedule both of us a day off and we can hang out." Naruto replied chuckling.

With that, Sakura closed the door and was on her way to her house. She started thinking. 'I wonder how Shikamaru is. He has been gone for so long. Will he still feel part of his team? Or would he move on? I wonder how much he has changed.' Sakura thought back to the day he left.

******************Memory Flashback**********************

He and Ino had been seeing each other for over a year. Ino clung to him. And he always said how 'troublesome' she was. But Sakura could see they were both very happy. No matter how much of a 'drag' Shikamaru insisted it was.

But then it was time for the exams again. And Shikamaru was part of the committee. It was his job to meet the committee members from the other villages, show them around Konoha, make arrangements for their stay, and make sure they all made it to the meetings. That's when things started to go downhill quickly. Gaara had wanted to discuss this year's exams with Tsunade and Naruto, so he came early. And he brought Temari with him since she was on the committee this year. Shikamaru held true to his duties and escorted Temari around the village while Gaara was with the Hokage.

Ino wasn't anyone specifically important in her clan. Her father was still head of the clan council. She had no interest in politics so she often disregarded the meetings, not often showing up for them at all. But this left her in the dark with a lot of things going on around the village. Specifically, why Shikamaru was walking around town with 'that hussy'.

Well it all came to a screeching halt one day when Temari and Shikamaru were walking through the village with each other. Ino couldn't hear what they were saying. But she saw Shikamaru saying something to 'that slut'. Then she saw 'the bitch' reach over and touch her 'Shika-kuns' shoulder and laugh. And she didn't even expect what was coming next. Shikamaru actually smiled and chuckled. He never laughed at anything she said. She couldn't believe he was cheating on her. And she couldn't have been any more wrong. Shikamaru had actually been telling Temari the story about how he tried asking Ino out when he had finally gotten the guts to do so. And how every single time he tried, Ino ended up messing it up, or missing the point completely.

I had walking a small distance behind the 2 the entire time, and she never saw me apparently. Who knew my bright pink hair could be missed or over-looked.

So what did Ino do? She couldn't have waited and talked to him like a civil, mature adult. No, because this was Ino we are talking about here. Instead, Ms. Drama Queen went to the one boy who had been hitting on her for months. The same boy she kept harshly pushing away because she loved her 'Shika-kun' and he could never measure up to even half the man Shika was. That boy was none other than Kiba. Poor guy never saw it coming.

Ino slept with Kiba that night. In the same spot Shikamaru asked her out and she finally got the point and said yes. The same spot Shikamaru and I came almost every night to watch the sun set. The spot that Shikamaru and I had walked to and caught Ino and Kiba in the middle of the act.

"INO!" I screamed. Ino looked up, saw Shikamaru, and lazily pushed Kiba off of her. Shikamaru was frozen in shock. "I…..you…but…..I" Shikamaru managed to choke out. He quickly spun around and I watched him run off. I looked back at Ino who had a smirk on her face. Kiba was getting dressed. I walked up to her. I grabbed her and threw her up onto her feet. I smacked her across the face, throwing her back on the ground. "How could you Ino. That was disgustingly low, even for you." I growled out at her.

She looked at me shocked. She brought a hand to her face, feeling the tenderness of where I had just hit her. "How could I? It's his fault. He cheated on me first!" Ino screamed. "What the hell is going on in that mind of yours, pig! Shikamaru would never cheat on you!" I took a few steps forward towards her.

She coward backward toward Kiba, who was smart enough to stay out of this. "I saw how he was with that blonde hussy today." She yelled back. "Temari?" I said surprised. "Yes, that whore! I saw how they were acting together when they walked past the flower shop. All laughing and happy." She threw back at me. "Ino" I said sternly. She looked up at me. "Shikamaru was telling Temari about all those times he tried to ask you out and you ruined the occasion, not knowing he was trying to confess his love to you. I was walking behind them the entire time. They were headed to the Hokage's office and picked me up on the way."

Everything was quiet. Kiba finally broke the silence "So you didn't even really like me, huh Ino? You were just using me to hurt Shikamaru." "I'm so sorry. Oh my god what have I done." Ino started to sob. She was going to lean into Kiba's shoulder for support. Until he moved away, quickly getting up, allowing her to fall on her face. She looked up at them. Her face stained with tears. "That's low even for you Ino." Kiba said harshly. "I can't believe I actually liked you" He said turning and walking away. He held his arm out to Sakura, who gladly accepted his offer for a shoulder to lean on.

Her and Kiba looked everywhere for Shikamaru that night. But couldn't find him. The next morning Naruto told her that Shikamaru had requested and extended mission. And that his clan, and the council accepted his request. They gave him a mission with no definite end date. And he might never come back. Sakura broke the news to the rest of her friends. Ino broke down. Everyone hated her for what she did. He team requested she be reassigned to a different team, as they could no longer work with her. The request was granted by the council.

***********************End Memory Flashback****************************

She never did talk to Ino since that day. They would see each other in the streets. Ino would smile at her, Sakura would turn her head and ignore the girl she once called her best friend.

She really missed Shikamaru. They had an odd friendship. Neither talked much when they were together, appreciating the silence. But they were still close. And when she had a rough day training or at the hospital, she knew she could let it all out on Shikamaru and he would never complain.

She never missed going to their special spot on the hill to watch the sunset. She went every night. She would talk to the sky as if she were talking to him.

She hoped he was watching too, where ever he was.

She opened the door to her house and walked in. She went to the kitchen and started cooking dinner. She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Who could be visiting me this time of the night?" She said to herself as she grabbed the hand towel and headed to the door. She dried her hands and opened the door. "Choji! I wasn't expecting a visit from you. Come in, please." She stepped back, opening the door more and Choji walked in.

"Sakura, we need to talk." Choji said nervously. He was silent for a moment and then continued. "Shikamaru is back" "I know. Have you talked to him?" Sakura asked hopeful. Choji's eyes fell to the floor "No. I was so nervous once I found out. My mom kicked me out because I kind of ate everything in the fridge…." Sakura let out a laugh "What! I get hungry when I'm nervous!" Choji said, waving his arms around frantically.

"You get hungry from everything Choji, don't try fooling yourself. Well then you came just in time. I was just making dinner. We can talk in the kitchen." Sakura said still giggling, walking towards the kitchen.

'This is going to make for an interesting night. I wonder if Ino knows yet.' Sakura thought to herself as she and Choji began to make dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the story alert adds and comments! I wasn't expecting so much love from you guys since it's only my second story. Thank you so much!**

**I don't really have an end in mind other than the obvious ShikaSaku pairing, so the story is just kind of developing as I go. **

**I do not own Naruto.**

She had never been close to Choji until Shikamaru had left. A few weeks after Shikamaru had left, Sakura had gone up to the spot on the hill as was her typical night routine.

*******Memory Flashback*********

When she got up there she noticed someone sitting in her and Shikamaru's spot. She was upset. How could someone just barge in on their tradition like that? As she got closer, she recognized the outline of Shikamaru's husky built team mate. She smiled to herself. He must be taking it pretty hard. As she approached him, she put her hand on his shoulder to show her support and squeezed lightly but didn't say anything. She understood that sometimes, silence says more than words ever can.

He looked up at her and gave a small smile. "Hey Sakura…" He said quietly, looking back to the sky, waiting for the sun to set. "Hey" She said just above a whisper in response as she sat next to him. They sat, not saying anything for a while, looking up at the sky.

Once the sun started to set and the sky began turning an array of amazingly beautiful colors, Sakura looked over at Choji. He was simply staring at the sky. He looked as if he might be holding back the tears that were lurking just below the surface. Sakura felt so bad for Choji. She and Shikamaru were friends, but they weren't nearly as close as him and Choji were. Shikamaru spoke so highly of his friend. It was almost as if they were brothers.

She decided she should continue with her routine. She found some peace in it, maybe Choji would to. She laid back, bringing her hands up behind her head. She took in a deep breath. She almost felt nervous that someone was observing her tradition.

"Hi Shikamaru. I hope you are doing well today. I had a long one. Team Kakashi was training today. Sai said something that was very typical Sai to say and it upset Naruto….Like usual." Sakura laughed to herself. "You know how hotheaded Naruto can be. Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything to try and stop them. I think he encourages it so he can read that smut of his. It's like he can't take his face out of it. Like it's a second mask or something." Sakura giggled loudly "He'd rather lay around all day and read those books. I'd even go as far as to say that he is almost as lazy as you." She heard a low chuckle next to her.

Sakura looked up at Choji, who had tears running down his cheeks. "He always was pretty lazy wasn't he? Even when we were kids. He gets it from his dad." Choji said with a shaky voice. Sakura reached he hand up and rubbed Choji's back softly as he quietly choked out a sob. She felt his shoulders shaking. She gripped his shirt and pulled him down on the ground with her.

Choji brought his fists up to rub the tears out of his eyes. "I miss him Sakura." Choji said, finally letting himself be taken by grief. Sakura reached her hand over to his and gripped it tightly. "Me too…" Sakura whispered. Tears freely flowed down Choji's face. He intertwined their fingers. "Do you think he'll come back?" She gave a comforting squeeze to his hand. She left out a big sigh. "I don't know. I'd like to think he will. I'd like to think that he will consider all good things he has here, like you, his family and his friends, and come home. But I also know, probably as well as you, that Ino really hurt him. I don't blame him for leaving."

Choji was quiet. His tears slowed. He let go of her hand and rolled on his side, facing her. "Do you think he's doing the same as us? Lying under the sky, wondering if we had a good day?" Sakura turned on her side to face him. His eyes looked heart broken. "Yes….I really do. I think he misses us as much as we miss him." Choji smiled and rolled his back once more.

"Hey Shikamaru, I'm sorry it took me so long to visit. When you left it really hurt and I couldn't bring myself to face you. I really miss you man….But I hope everything is going well for you. I hope you are finding whatever it is you need to find to settle your heart...And…And I hope you know how much you mean to me and Sakura. We will be here for you when you get back." He looked over at Sakura with a big smile. Choji began telling her a story about him and Shikamaru as young kids. The talked for hours and fell asleep under the stars.

************************End Memory Flashback**********************************

After that night, Choji frequently visited Sakura to watch the sunset and talk to Shikamaru through the sky. With every visit, their friendship got closer. They filled a void for each other. But it was nothing more than friendship. Sakura actually looked at Choji as an older brother. He was very protective of her.

They had finished cooking and had sat down to eat. "Do you think he'll go?" Choji said as he began to shovel food into his mouth. Sakura knew what he meant. What he was really asking was if Shikamaru going to go up to the hill. Sakura had to be realistic. It had been over 5 years….He might not want to see them yet. If might be too painful of memories too soon.

"No….I really don't think he will. If he's the same old Shikamaru, he will be probably be at home, laying in his room sleeping or something, Meeting up with us would be to troublesome." Sakura giggled. She looked over at Choji, who looked rather depressed at her answer. "I didn't mean to upset you Choji. I just think that if he felt the need to be gone for over 5 years, I don't know if he will feel the need to seek us out. Maybe he doesn't want anything to do with his old life. Who knows, maybe he found new friends. He might have moved on without us." Sakura said sadly.

After a moment of silence, her friend replied quietly "Ya. I guess you're right." Sakura nodded at him. Deciding silence would be better for now. She looked up at the clock and her eyes grew wide. "Geez it's that late already. We better get moving or we are going to miss the sunset!" Sakura said, getting up from her chair and taking her plates to the sink. Choji took his plate to the sink as well and followed Sakura out the door.

They had to run through the village to get there on time, but they made it. They plopped down catching their breath. Sakura fell backwards onto the grass. She was the first to start with their routine so she got on with it.

"Hey Shikamaru. I heard that you came back last night. I was hoping you would come to see me but I guess you're just not ready yet. But you know what? That's alright with me. I understand that you probably have moved on without us, and I hope life has treated you well. But either way, I just want you to know that I really miss you and I am still here for you if or when you decide you want to keep me in your life. Even after 5 years, I haven't met anyone who can fill the spot in my life you occupied. But I am glad; I wouldn't want anyone to replace you."

Choji was still sitting up and turned towards her. "Can I ask you a question Sakura?" Sakura frowned slightly confused that he was suddenly asking for permission to ask her questions. "Anytime Choji. Anytime." Choji looked down and started picking at the grass. "I just wanted to know why you are still single. I mean, you date. I've seen you on dates. But you still haven't gotten serious with anyone."

Sakura thought a long moment about this. "I don't know. I just haven't found the right guy yet. All the guys who ask me out assume that I'm just some pretty girl. They don't care what I've accomplished. Hell, they don't even care if I can read." Sakura snorted a laugh "I'm just not into guys like that. And that seems to be all I can find."

Choji laughed. "That's because you hang out with a bunch of boys. It doesn't always put off the right image, you know?" Sakura slapped his arm lightly "Hey! I am not some harlot!" She yelled at him. "I'm just pointing it out Sakura." She laughed loudly at him "I know. But I wouldn't give you boys up for the world. You are too important to me." There was a long period of silence before Choji broke it again.

"I always thought you and Shikamaru were perfect for each other." Choji said looking up at the sky. "What?" Sakura said setting herself up on her elbows. "Sure. I mean, you're very supportive and intelligent. You respected his space but knew when to push his boundaries. And he always didn't the same for you. He always found a way to push you like no one else could. I really hoped you two would figure it out. But then Ino happened." He was silent again. Sakura didn't say anything because she could feel he wasn't finished.

"Do you think you would ever give him the chance if he asked?" Choji said lying down next to her. Sakura was quietly thinking before answering. "I don't know. I never thought about him like that because he was dating my best friend. And then he was gone for so long. I mean, he might be a completely different person now. But I guess if he were about the same as the guy we remember…..I wouldn't say no. I would give it a shot. I can't deny that he had filled an empty spot in my life and I miss having that."

"Do you really think he's going to be that different?" Choji asked. "He could be. I'm ready for that possibility. But I guess I'll find out in a couple days because I have a mission with him." Sakura answered thoughtfully.

"I hope we see him before then." Choji complained a little. Sakura laughed at him. "Me too Choji….…meeee too."

They found a comfortable silence between them and watched the sun set. Sakura began to think about Shikamaru. What would she do if he has changed? Would she be able to handle it if he moved on without her? These were questions she needed answers to ASAP.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the adds! This chapter isn't going to go forward in the timeline at all. This is from Shikamaru's point of view from as soon as he returns to the village.**

**InARealPickle: Though you went in a little different direction with the characters than I had intended, I understand your comment. Thank you for your input! I will make sure in the future to clarify the characters relationships farther than what I have in this story. It is meant to show that they only viewed each other as friends (regardless of who he was dating. Because boys and girls are indeed allowed to be friends even when one of them is dating). But didn't realize how much they relied on each other for support until he had gone. Only at that point did their relationship blossom into something different, during their time apart.**

**I do not own Naruto.**

He walked slowly through the gates. He purposely waited until nightfall to get to enter the village. He wasn't sure if he was ready to meet all of his old friends, if they even still cared about him. He was approached by the two Leaf nin on night watch. He didn't recognize either of them.

"State your name and purpose of entering our village." The taller nin shouted

"Nara Shikamaru. I am returning from a mission." He replied lazily. 'What a drag…'

The three finally met in the middle. One looking him over, the other, shorter one searching the list of active duty Leaf ninja. The short nin pointed to a name on the register.

"Let me see your papers." The tall one stated and heard Shikamaru mumble 'troublesome'.

Shikamaru reached back, retrieving the mission scroll from his pack. Because it was such an extended mission, he was given a special entry scroll that only responded to his chakra. The guard opened the scroll, reading over the instructions. He held the scroll out to Shikamaru.

"Put some chakra through the scroll to confirm identity." The man stated.

Shikamaru did what he was told. As he let his chakra flow through the document, a special Hokage seal appeared, confirming it was indeed him.

"Welcome back Shikamaru." The man said, waving him towards the guard post. "We have instructions for you from the Hokage."

"Yes sir." Shikamaru replied. The man laughed.

"No need to be so formal Shikamaru. Don't you remember me?" The man stated

Shikamaru looked the man over, and looked over to his partner. The lighting at the guard post was poor and he couldn't make out a lot of their face.

"I'm sorry, it's a bit too dark out for me to look at you in detail." Shikamaru said

The man pushed some chakra to his hand, and suddenly held a ball of fire. It light up the area brightly.

"Konohamaru?" Shikamaru said in shock. His eyes widening.

"Hai. And you remember Moegi." Konohamaru said more as a statement than a question.

"Wow. I really feel like I have been gone a long time now. You two have grown up quite a bit from the last time I saw you." Shikamaru held out his hand to shake the boy's hand. 'If they grew up this much, I wonder what everyone is like.'

Konohamaru chuckled "Ya. I was like 14 or something when you left." Konohamaru shook Shikamaru's hand.

Shikamaru noticed the feeling of something metal on the boy's hand and looked down. "You're married?" He said in almost disbelief. He remembered this kid being so loud and obnoxious.

Konohamaru nodded and rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed, cheeks turning pink. "About a year now."

Shikamaru smirked "I don't pity the girl that has to deal with your nonsense." He chuckled. "So who is the unlucky girl?"

"That'd be me" Moegi finally spoke. She stepped forward and Shikamaru noticed she was quite different from the last time he had seen her.

"Wow Moegi. How far along are you?" Shikamaru held her at arm's length, looking at her very large belly.

She gave a soft laugh. "A little over 7 months." Shikamaru retreated to his thoughts 'Maybe going away for so long wasn't such a good idea after all. I've missed all of this."

"Shikamaru?" Moegi questioned him spacing out.

Shikamaru blinked a few times. "Sorry. I was just thinking how I must have missed so much while I was gone. I'll have a lot of catching up to do with everyone's lives."

Konohamaru held out a sheet of paper in front of Shikamaru. "As much as I would love to continue with this reunion, our guard shift is ending and we need to report back to Naruto and give him the activity log. You have to go there for your mission debriefing anyway so we'll walk with you."

"Naruto is Hokage?" Shikamaru looked stunned. How could he miss that. Sure Naruto wasn't his team mate, but everyone from that grade was so close before he left… '**before** I left…' Shikamaru reminded himself sadly. He left without saying goodbye to even his closest of friends.

Konohamaru interrupted his thoughts with a loud laugh "No not yet. They named him as successor to Tsunade. But the council still feels he is too young. They don't question his strength or will. But he was never the political type. So he was ordered to train under Tsunade to learn the position. That way it can be a smooth transition."

Konohamaru started walking towards the Hokage tower with his arm around a waddling Moegi. He noticed Shikamaru's tenseness.

"It will be ok you know." He broke the silence.

Shikamaru looked up "What will?"

"They still miss you." Moegi said quietly. "Naruto talks about you almost every day. Sakura still makes a weekly dinner for all of us, and she always still sets your place just in case."

Shikamaru's heart began to race.

"Ya. Every night Sakura still goes up to that spot on the hill you guys always used to go watch the sunset. Choji goes up there sometimes. I think it's still hard for him. But Sakura has helped him get through it." Konohamaru added.

Shikamaru was silent for a few moments. He felt so relieved. Wait… "She goes every night?" He asked with a shaky voice.

"Yup. Rain, shine, snow, storming, it doesn't matter. She hasn't missed one night in over 5 years. I don't think anyone realized how close of friends you two were until you left. I don't even think she knew until you left." Konohamaru confirmed.

"She hasn't gone on any missions?" Shikamaru abruptly stopped.

"No. After you left, Naruto went to train with Jiraiya. So Sakura trained with Tsunade. When Naruto came back, they had a spar against Kakashi kind of like the last time. Only Naruto and Kakashi didn't make it out unscathed this time. Naruto barely made it out with just the broken bones he ended up with. And Kakashi needed surgery, which ironically Sakura performed. She has requested a few missions but the council has denied her every time since then. I'm not sure why though. You'd have to ask Naruto about that." Konohamaru explained.

They reached the Hokage tower. Konohamaru opened the door and motioned for the other two to go in. Shikamaru helped Moegi to a chair to sit and rest. Konohamaru walked up to the two. Leaned down to Moegi and kissed her on the forehead.

"Just hang out here for a few minutes and rest. I'll be right back down after I give the log to Naruto."

Moegi nodded "It was good to see you Shikamaru. Welcome back." She said to Shikamaru.

"Thank you Moegi. I'll see you around."

The two walked up the stairs to the top of the tower. Konohamaru knocked on the door. They were instructed to enter. They opened the doors and entered. Shikamaru observed Naruto leaning over Tsunade listening intently while she explained some sort of hidden objective in an upcoming mission.

Konohamaru stepped forward. "Lady Hokage, I am brining Naruto the activity log from my guard shift. I also escorted a Leaf ninja back from his mission to report to you." He walked forward and set the log on the edge of the desk on top of all the other logs from the day. Konohamaru started to walk towards the door.

"Thanks Konohamaru, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Moegi I said hey." Naruto said without looking up.

"Will do boss." The boy replied before closing the door.

Shikamaru stood silently for a few moments longer before clearing his throat. He had traveled a long time to get back to the village and was exhausted. He really just wanted to go to bed.

Naruto looked up. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped. "SHIKAMARU!" He jumped over the desk and tackled the man. "You're finally back!" Naruto yelled.

"It's good to see you to Naruto." Shikamaru said with a strained voice as Naruto bear hugged him.

"Naruto! Let the man get up. I'm sure he'd like to finish up so he can go home and get some rest!"

Tsunade yelled at Naruto. He sheepishly got up and helped Shikamaru up off the floor. Once Shikamaru was stably standing, Naruto went behind the desk next to Tsunade again.

"Alright Shikamaru, make it quick." She commanded him

Shikamaru explained all of the boring details of the mission. Keeping things short, but elaborating when requested. Over all it took about an hour. And he was getting more tired by the minute.

"Great work Shikamaru. Welcome back. Take some time to see your family and catch up with your friends. You are dismissed." She said quietly. She looked pretty tired herself.

His friends? Would they even want to see him after what he did? Sure Naruto was happy, but he is always happy. Sakura still went to that spot every day without him. And it sounded like Choji took it pretty hard from what Konohamaru was saying… 'I don't think I can face them after leaving like that.."

"Lady Hokage, I would like to make a request if I may?" Shikamaru asked.

"What is it?" Tsunade left out a loud sigh, audibly sounding very irritated.

"I would like another mission as soon as possible." Shikamaru said very coldly.

"Request denied. Dismissed." Tsunade never even looked up from her paperwork but you could hear the edge in her voice."

"Lady Hoka-" He was suddenly interrupted by Tsunade slamming her fists on her desk.

"I SAID DISMISSED SHIKAM-" Tsunade was disrupted by a hand on her head. She gave Naruto quite a deadly glare.

Naruto handed Tsunade her bottle of sake. "Here drink some of this and calm down. It's pretty late, we all need rest."

Tsunade snatched the bottle from his hands and took a drink, leaning back into her chair, still glaring at Shikamaru.

Naruto turned back to Shikamaru with a stern look on his face. "Shikamaru, you have been gone for over 5 years. All that time, the village never once pushed you to come back when we all knew the mission should have been over long ago. It is council policy that any Leaf ninja gone from the village for a period of over 1 year submit to a physical and mental exam before they are released for active duty again. This policy had never been over looked."

Naruto paused just long enough for Shikamaru to jump in. "I know but you don't under-"

"I understand quite well. I know why you left Shikamaru. I am training to be the next Hokage after all. I need to know the mental state of all my ninja out on missions. But seriously man, it's been over 5 years! GROW A PAIR AND GET OVER IT!" Naruto yelled, stunning Shikamaru.

Tsunade simply chuckled to herself. 'Not exactly the most political way to go about things, but it will work.' She thought.

Shikamaru looked down to the floor ashamed. Naruto was right. He needed to face this sooner than later. But he needed a little time to figure out his plan of attack to get back into everyone's good graces. He couldn't just expect everyone to accept him back right away.

He was lost in his thoughts when Naruto spoke, shaking him back to reality.

"However, I am looking for someone to escort one of our medics out of the village to stock up on some herbs and plants we are running low on. The mission is only for one week and is limited to Fire Country." Naruto paused. "That should give you enough time to get your head on straight. I expect you can handle this?" Naruto asked

"Yes. Thank you Naruto." Shikamaru said with a slight bow. "But if I may ask. Why does a medic an escort if they are staying in Fire Country? I didn't run into or hear of any rouge ninja out for Konoha medics during my travels." He inquired.

"Ya well, the council ordered it. This medic is very important to the village so they don't let her out to play much." Naruto laughed. "But I convinced them that this would be good enough to quiet her down for a little bit. And it should be safe enough considering it is a D ranked mission." Naruto held the scroll out towards Shikamaru.

"Ok." Shikamaru said grabbing the scroll and turning towards the door "Thanks again Naruto. I owe you one." He shut the door behind him.

Shikamaru began his walk home. 'This should give me enough time to come up with a plan. I just need to avoid everyone until I leave for the mission. Then I will fix this mess when I get back.' He thought to himself smirking slightly.

Meanwhile, back in the Hokage office.

"That was low Naruto." Tsunade said setting her sake down on the desk.

"I know but he's going to have to face everyone at some point. Who better than Sakura, right?" Naruto said rubbing his face. He looked exhausted.

"Let's call it a night. Meet me back here at 9am." She said, standing and walking towards the door, shuffling Naruto out of the office. 'I wish I could see Shikamaru's face when he sees who this medic is' she snickered to herself.

**I believe next chapter I will actually make them meet. This one just kind of got a bit long so I decided to end it here.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The first part is still the timeline getting up to date on Shikamaru's end. **

**I do not own Naruto. **

Suddenly there was bright light in his face. He cringed at the sudden intrusion on his sleep. He was sure he had closed the curtains before he collapsed on his bed. He had snuck into his room through the window. He didn't want to wake him mom up that late at night, nor did he have the energy to stand there while she fussed over him. His blankets were tore from him. His eyes shot open.

"Time to wake up dear!" His mother said in a very sing song voice. "It's 4 in the afternoon. I thought maybe you slipped into a coma or something. You haven't moved since I checked on you this morning." She went about cleaning around his room and putting away the cloths she must have washed out of his pack.

Shikamaru sat up and dangled his legs over the side of the bed. He noticed his shirt, shoes and socks were gone. His mom must have taken them off this morning when he was sleeping. He stood up and walked over towards her. Very uncharacteristic to himself, he grabbed her shoulder, spun her around and pulled her into a tight hug. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to say anything. His mother always understood without words.

"Welcome home son." She said wrapping her arms around her boy. "Get showered and dressed and I'll have something ready for you to eat when you're done." She gave him one last squeeze before moving away from him towards the door.

"Mom" He called back to her quietly. She turned around "Hm?" looking at him with a confused look.

"Thank you…." He said rubbing the back of his head. She smiled and walked out, closing the door.

He spent the next couple days catching up with his family. He and his dad sparred a few times. His dad gave him pointers on the family jutsu. His final night before the mission was finally winding down. His family sat down for a late dinner.

"A few people came by today, old friends of yours I think. They wanted to see you…." His mother said as she served her boys dinner.

"What did you tell them?" Shikamaru asked nervously.

"Oh, you know, that you were training with your father, spending time with your family. Or the always believable, it's too troublesome at the moment." His mother said giggling.

Shikamaru let out a lough sigh.

"Seriously though, Shikamaru, when are you going to face up to them? They won't stay away forever. And you can't expect your mother to keep deflecting them like that. It's working for now, but for how much longer?" His father said in a very serious tone.

'What a drag" Shikamaru thought to himself. "I thought I was ready when I came home. But when I saw Konohamaru…. It threw me off a bit. I don't even know if I still belong here. I've been gone for so long, do I even have a place here…." Shikamaru said quietly and paused.

"I requested for Tsunade to give me another mission, even though it's against protocol. At first she denied my request, but Naruto stepped in. He said I could go on this mission, a really easy D rank escorting a medic to gather herbs and stuff around fire country. It's only a week long. He told me that I better have everything worked out by then, because that's all he's giving me. That will give me plenty of time to come up with a plan…" his words trailed off.

"Well, you better have one quick. I don't know how much longer Choji can hold it together. He visits us every now and then with Pinky and he see-" his dad was interrupted.

"Shikaku! Her name is Sakura! How many times do I have to tell you she absolutely hates that nickname and it is beyond rude to call her that!" His mother said, slamming her hand down on the table.

"Keep it down…troublesome woman." His dad muttered under his breath.

"She is going to hurt you one of these days when you call her that you know? Then what are you going to do? I hope she does wack you a good one! Knock some sense into you." She said, sitting back down to finish her meal.

"Anyway, your friends are eager for you to come back to Konoha. Not everyone knows yet. Naruto must be keeping it low profile so you have time to think, as you said." His dad went back to eating as well

Shikamaru sat stunned at what he just witnessed and heard. "Sakura came here?" He asked confused

"Mhm" His mother confirmed with a mouth full of food.

"But why? I don't understand?" Shikamaru questioned

"Our house is on the way to where she goes to watch the sunset. The days Choji was with her, they stopped by." His mother explained, thinking she cleared things up.

He still sat there is confusion plastered all over his face.

"Choji and Pin- I mean Sakura thought it appropriate to check on your mother while you were gone. After all, what kind of friend, or man for that matter, would he be if he didn't check up on his best friend's mother while he was away on an extended mission?" His father answered his unasked question.

"And Sakura helped your father harvest the deer antlers when it was time. She is a very nice girl. Her monster strength comes in handy during that time. She's grown into quite the beautiful woman over the years." His mom said giggling.

'What was Sakura doing? Her and Choji are close friends now. She still goes to watch the sunset as if I were still here. Her and Choji check on my mother. She still sets a place for me during our ritual get togethers…. I don't understand. She should have just moved on with her life. Did she think of me that highly? Was I that important to her?' These were answers Shikamaru needed answers to.

Shikamaru stood up from the table, gathering all of the dirty plates and taking them to the kitchen for his mother. He started running the water so it could get hot for her to do dishes. He walked back into the dining room.

"Well, I am going to head to bed. I have to meet my team mate for the mission tomorrow at 5 am. I'll see you in about a week." He said walking towards his room.

"Good night dear!" his mom yelled in his general direction.

He never had an issue falling asleep. Like EVER. But tonight, he had something on his mind. And it was pink.

"Pinky?" he said out loud to laughing to himself as if he finally just heard his father saying it. 'He must really have a death wish.'

And with that, he fell into a deep sleep.

Sakura's alarm was going off. She threw it across the room. And layed back down, but quickly realized that today was mission day! She already had packed everything yesterday, she just needed to get a quick shower and get dressed.

She was SO excited, she was getting to see Shikamaru today. But also incredibly nervous at the same time. She always kept her thoughts rational though. It had been over 5 years, and she had grown so much. Not just physically, but as a person to. She is sure the same was true for him.

She took in a deep breath and sighed loudly. She better get moving or she'll be late.

She was ready to go and walking out the door. She had enough time to walk slowly to the gates and enjoy the beautiful morning. The sun wasn't out yet, it was a little chilly. She reached the gates and let out a sign of relief. He wasn't there yet. She check in with the ninja on watch and handed in their departure paperwork.

"We'll wait until the rest of your team arrives to complete the departure procedures." The nin confirmed. Sakura nodded in agreement and took a seat on the bench.

She felt a very familiar chakra signature approaching. And it wasn't Choji.

Shikamaru was almost to the gate. He could feel 3 distinct chakras, but he didn't recognize them. Two were probably the ninja on watch. And by how strong the other chakra signature was, he guessed that was probably his partner for the mission. He was slightly confused. Anyone that strong shouldn't need an escort on a D ranked mission. Hell, probably not even an A ranked mission. The levels were similar to Kakashi's….or Tsunade's, if not more.

As he got closer he saw someone sitting on the bench. But it was still too dark to make out any features. 'Why wouldn't a look out post be better lit?" Shikamaru thought to himself.

That's when he saw it. Pink. "Naruto what did you do." He said angrily to himself. ' I should have seen this coming. Of course he would do this to me. What a drag…' He thought to himself. He was trying to think of what to say, what to do. He needed a strategy.

But Sakura was quicker than him. She stood up from the bench and walked over to the nin on watch.

"He's here." Sakura said to the point. As Shikamaru walked up beside her to the desk.

"Ok, so we have some pre mission instructions for you from Naruto and Hokage-sama. Sakura, you are to take this." He handed her a small packet. Sakura opened it and saw a tracking seed.

"I already have a babysitter and now THEY WANT ME TO TAKE A TRACKING SEED TOO?" Sakura yelled clenching her fists.

"Sakura, calm down, I have to read you this note from Naruto. Ok, so Naruto says 'Sakura, stop whining and just eat the damn seed so you can go on this stupid mission. Shikamaru, please stop Sakura from beating the guards to a pulp." With that the nin looked up and saw Shikamaru holding Sakura back from destroying them and the main gate.

Finally she gave up struggling, screaming out in frustration. Shikamaru felt Sakura go limp in his arms and he let go.

"I just don't understand why I need so many precautions, ya know? Like I can't protect myself or something. It's a D rank mission for heaven sakes! A kid in the academy could do this with all of these fail-safes! " Sakura said angrily while stalking back over to the bench and sitting down.

"Sakura, we can go now." Shikamaru stated Not trying to make her any more angry then she already was.

"No. We cant." She said quietly but bluntly.

"But it's almost 5 we could get an ear-" He stopped mid-sentence when he felt the chakra signature approaching quickly. He would recognize it anywhere.

"Just one more minute, please Shikamaru?" She said almost sadly. She turned, facing towards the village.

"SAKURA! SAKURA WAIT! JUST WAIT A SECOND!" Shikamaru heard his voice before he saw him.

Suddenly Choji appeared, running at full speed towards the gate. He slowed as he got closer. Finally coming to rest in front of Sakura. He was bent over, hands on his knees, panting.

"I didn't think *pant pant* that I'd make it *pant pant* before you left." He stood up and pulled her into a hug. "Be safe ok?"

"Of course. Stay at my apartment while I'm gone? I stocked the fridge and cabinets with your favorites!" Sakura teased him.

"Of course." Choji said chuckling "Should I keep the nightly routine?"

"Yup, I'll be waiting, 10pm sharp." Sakura gave him one final squeeze and turned while waving at him.

Choji took a step towards Shikamaru. The emotions on his face changing rapidly. Finally Choji reached out his arm and placed his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. They were silent for a moment.

"Stay safe man. Keep an eye on her for me will ya?" Choji said quietly, obviously wanting to say more but holding back.

"Ya." Shikamaru said nodding. His friend had changed so much.

He watched as Choji turned and walked back towards the village without another word.

"You ready?" Sakura jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned and walked towards her. They walked out the gate.

Sakura didn't say anything to him. But it didn't seem as if it was because she was angry or ignoring him. She was waiting for him to make the first move.

….but he wasn't sure how.

'This is going to be a long mission…..stupid Naruto.' Shikamaru cursed to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are amazing! Sorry for keeping you waiting! So on with the story!**

****of course I do NOT own Naruto **

They kept a pretty slow pace for most of the morning. Neither said a word to each other.

Shikamaru took the opportunity to look at his childhood friend. His mother was right; she really had grown up quite a bit from when he left. Physically she was…..beautiful. There were no other words to describe it. Her eyes were absolutely stunning. But the sexiest thing about her you ask? She carried herself with such confidence.

He felt slightly nervous. Sakura hadn't said anything to him. He could tell she wasn't angry, and she wasn't ignoring him. She was patiently waiting for him to be ready to talk. He smiled to himself; she always knew how to read him.

He slowly brought his arms up, clasping his hands behind his head. This was the way he always signaled he was ready for conversation….but was either unwilling or too lazy to start it himself.

"I can't believe they made me take a damn tracking seed. They already sent me with a baby sitter. Like I'm not a capable ninja or something….stupid council. Can you believe them?" Sakura said, flipping her hair over her shoulder but still not really looking over at him.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Shikamaru replied shortly.

"Some random nonsense from the council. Something about me being too valuable. Like I'm a heavily guarded secret or something. I haven't had a mission in I don't even know how long because they won't approve anything. I submit for a mission, I get denied. I submit for ANBU, I get denied. I submit for guard duty, I get denied. Anything that isn't in the damn hospital or Tsunade-sama's office, I get denied. All because I beat Kakashi's Sharingan." Sakura sighed. "Naruto got me this mission so I could get out and 'stretch' a little. If I would have known this would happen….I would have let them beat me that day."

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks and lowered his arms, giving her a serious look. "What do you mean you beat Kakashi's Sharingan?" 'This is impossible, no one has figured out a way to beat the Sharingan.' He thought certainly to himself.

Sakura stopped a few steps ahead, not realizing that he stopped at first. She turned back to him with a small smile, obviously a little uncomfortable talking about her accomplishment.

"As I'm sure your aware since your just as O.C.D. about rules and regulations as I am, that in order to become a Jonin you have to create your own jutsu. My specialty is medical jutsu, but Tsunade-sama pretty much takes the cake in that area. And since the village felt such a loss with the Sharingan lost with Sasuke gone, I felt it necessary to research it and the Byakugan. Tsunade-sama gave me all the research documents I needed. Hinata was a willing research subject and was really helpful. It took me awhile but I was able to figure out what the human eye and brain does to make the Sharingan work and was able to replicate the process." Sakura said like it was nothing. Like this was one of her smallest accomplishments.

"And I was able to fix Kakashi's eye so it doesn't pull so much chakra." She said turning around. She began walking forward again.

Shikamaru stood frozen, amazed at what he just heard. "Come on Shikamaru, I only have a week of freedom. Let's make the most of it." Sakura said giggling as she looked back at him.

He jogged up to her still a little confused. "But I thought it was a bloodline limit. How can you replicate a bloodline limit? Even Kakashi was never able to do it with his Sharingan."

Sakura out right laughed at his question. "What?" Shikamaru questioned her random laughter.

"Listen, Shikamaru. I know you have an obsession with understanding everything, you always have. But in order for me to explain and you understand, you need an advanced understanding about medical mechanics of the human eye and how it compares to the Sharingan eye. It's not as easy as saying that your finger is connected to your hand." She said with a silly smile.

"Can you at least try?" Shikamaru questioned

Sakura sighed loudly. "Fine. The miss conceptions about bloodline limits are that people think they give that clan or person a unique ability to a specific set of jutsus. This, in fact, is not the case. The bloodline limit only gives that clan or person the natural ability to the jutsus with little or no training." Sakura stated.

"Like how Sasuke activated his Sharingan in the heat of battle during that mission with team 7." Shikamaru interjected.

"Exactly! It's so nice to have a conversation with an intelligent party." Sakura giggled "Not that Choji isn't smart, but having to explain things over and over is just too…..troublesome." Sakura paused and looked over at Shikamaru who smirked at her reference.

"So after an extensive study of the materials Tsunade-sama provided me and studying Hinata before, during and after she activated the Byakugan, I noticed that her eye changes in specific ways when it's active. Certain muscles were tightening that weren't used at all in the non-clan eyes. And the optic nerve and retina were reacting differently than when it's not active. After a lot of trial and error based on the research materials, I was able to replicate the Sharingan. Once I submitted the results to Tsunade-sama, she had me look at Kakashi's Sharingan. I was able to fix the imbalance in his eye that caused it to drain his chakra constantly. I was also able to deactivate it and heal everything. So now he can activate it and deactivate it like it was originally intended." Sakura finished, pulling the map out of the side pocket of her map. "We are close to our first area. Let's make camp here, eat some lunch and spend the rest of the day in this area."

"That's amazing Sakura." Shikamaru said astounded "I never thought a bloodline limit could be like that."

"It's not that big of a deal. The information was right there for the taking, just no one thought to use it. Not all bloodline limits will be like that. But what I never understood though, and I'm still researching is why their eyes change color? Why are their different levels to the Sharingan? Now that Kakashi's eye is healed and fixed up, I can research those questions further." Sakura was in medic mode. You could see it in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I missed that." Shikamaru said dropping his pack to the ground and started unpacking.

"Oh, it's ok. You didn't really miss anything important." Sakura said with a smile on her face. But he could tell it was a fake smile. He could see it in her eyes.

He walked up to her as she was looking at the ground, her feet suddenly interesting. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Her body stiffened with the sudden contact.

"It's ok to be mad at me Sakura. I was gone longer than I should have been. I just couldn't come back. I still feel like I don't belong here…" Shikamaru trailed off, setting his chin on her head. He felt her arms circle around him. She gave him a squeeze.

"I really missed you Shikamaru. I thought you'd never come back. Or that when you did come back, that you wouldn't want any of your old friends. I was so worried that you had moved on past us." Sakura said with a shaky voice.

"Ssshh. Is ok Sakura. I'm here. As troublesome as you are, you and Choji are very important to me." He rubbed her back gently. 'Same old Sakura, always wearing her emotions right on her sleeve.'

They stood there in each other's arms for a moment before Sakura pulled away. "Let's finish setting up camp and eat. I want to get some herbs gathered before nightfall." She went back to unpacking her things, making sure her back was to him so he didn't see her tears.

"I'm not going anywhere Sakura. So relax and let's enjoy our time away from the village." He said moving back over to his things.

"Sounds like a plan." She said softly, looking over to him. She gave him an absolutely breath taking smile that made his breath hitch.

'This should prove to be an interesting mission.' He thought to himself and smirked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally able to get a chapter out for this story. Thank you for everyone who is reading and those who reviewed. I get more feedback from this pairing by far. And I love you for it ;)**

**Just an unrelated side note: does anyone else absolutely hate the new Facebook layout? It's so hard to get updates on friends now **

**I don't own Naruto**

They had a quiet lunch, not really saying much. They were both inside their heads to much for conversation. After lunch they started gathering some of the plants and herbs on the list. Sakura seemed determined to get more than Shikamaru. He noted the silent challenge and they spent the entire afternoon gathering everything as quickly as they could to try and beat each other. By the end of the day, they had way more than what they were sent out to get.

"I guess they won't be needing to send someone out to harvest for the next few years." Sakura said laughing.

"Ya." Shikamaru said chuckling. "It's starting to get dark, I should make a fire."

Sakura nodded her agreement and started preparing to seal all that they gathered into a scroll. When she was done, she made her way back to where she left Shikamaru. He had gotten a fire stared easily and was now laying under a tree, arms under his head, and his eyes closed.

Sakura smirked to herself. 'It's like he never left.' Sakura was still guarded with her optimism though. She still wasn't sure if maybe he was just trying to make the best of a forced situation. Her spirits sank at the thought.

She went into her pack and grabbed out 2 pots and a couple packages. She walked over to the stream they had found and filled both pots. As she carefully made her way back to the fire, she observed Shikamaru again. He had grown quite a bit. His body looked lean, at least from what she could see. It was hard to tell with all of those cloths on. She blushed deeply at the thought of imagining him without cloths. She shook the thought out of her mind. She shouldn't be thinking about him that way.

She set the pots in the fire and allowed the water to begin boiling. She emptied the contents of the 2 ramen packages into one pot. While the noodles were cooking, she grabbed 2 metal cups and put tea bags in them. She grabbed the other boiling pot of water and poured it into the cups. She walked over to her napping companion and flicked his nose like she always used to do when he needed to wake up.

He didn't flinch or show any indication that he had woken up. She went to flick his nose again when suddenly his hand was on hers.

"I've been awake Sakura. No need to abuse my nose." He said blandly, still not moving.

"I made you tea. And dinner is almost ready." Sakura said smiling sadly. She just couldn't shake the thought that maybe he was just pretending to get along for the sake of being forced to be with her on a mission for a week. "Get your lazy ass up." She turned and walked back over to the fire to drain the noodles.

Shikamaru opened one eye just in time to see her walking back towards the fire. "What's wrong?" He asked as he began getting up.

She didn't answer. And this concerned him. He could tell her mood had changed, and not for the better. But why? He didn't do anything that he could remember. He made his way over to Sakura. She sat down on the ground just as he got to her and handed him his tea. She served him some noodles in a bowl and handed it to him with some chopsticks. He sat down next to her, sipping at his tea.

"Sakura what's wrong?" He asked again.

"Huh?" Sakura asked. She had been staring off into space and hadn't been paying attention.

"Exactly. What's wrong?" He asked again giving her a serious look.

She looked down at her food. A very sad look crossing her face. He felt a pain in his chest.

"Oh. Nothing, I'm just tired." She said dismissing him and went back to slowly eating her food.

"I think I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you." He replied almost offended that she was lying to him for some reason.

"Knew me." Sakura replied eating the last bit of her food.

"What?" Shikamaru asked confused.

"You knew me well enough. You've been gone for 5 years. Things change, you know?" Sakura got up from her place on the ground. "I've got to go. When you're done eating, set your dishes with mine and I'll take them to the stream and clean them out."

"Where are you going?" Shikamaru stood up and stepped closer to her.

"I have something I have to do. You can go with me if you'd like. Or you can stay here. I really don't care which you chose." Sakura said coldly

"Honestly Sakura, what did I do? Just tell me and I'll apologize!" he really didn't want her mad at him.

Sakura sighed. "It's nothing Shikamaru. There's nothing wrong. And you didn't do anything." She stated as she started walking away from the camp towards a clearing.

Shikamaru followed her reluctantly. If he wasn't so bothered by what had her so upset, he would just lie back down and go to sleep.

Sakura got into the clearing, and looked up into the sky. She moved another couple of steps over and looked up again. Happy with her position and view of the starry sky, she plopped down on the ground, lying back in the grass.

"Hey Choji, I hope your day was good. I had a rough one. Shikamaru and I had a competition to see who could gather the most medical herbs. I won of course." She giggled

"You cheated." Shikamaru said sitting down next to her. "You actually knew what you were looking for."

"Just because I knew more about something than you doesn't mean I cheated. Don't be such a sore loser. Can you believe it Choji, Shikamaru is being a sore loser." Sakura laughed

"Sakura, what is Choji to you? You've gone to the hill a lot with him I hear from my parents. And you asked him to stay at your apartment. You're talking to him through the stars. And he seemed very protective of you." Shikamaru said very cautiously. His heart started to race, he was nervous for her answer for some reason.

"Are you asking if I am seeing him?" Sakura paused, looking at him. "No, I'm not. Choji is like my brother, the only family I have now other than Naruto and Tsunade." Sakura said sadly.

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Well, when you left I continued to go to our spot to watch the sunset like we always had. But I stayed to look at the stars like we did sometimes. I started talking to you, it made me feel better. And then Choji was there one night. It seemed to help him deal with you leaving. He took it harder than anyone else. We became friends." Sakura took a deep breath.

"And then my mom died. She had a heart condition she didn't know about. It never gave her issues until one day, the neighbor found her on the floor in the kitchen. She was rushed to the hospital but she was already dead. I was devastated. Choji, Naruto and Tsunade really helped me through that time. Choji stayed at my apartment to keep my mind off of things and helped me clean out my mom's house. My mom was the only family I had, until she died. Now Choji and Naruto are like brothers to me and Tsunade treats me like her daughter. I lost one and gained three… It's still hard sometimes. I miss her." Sakura finished quietly.

"I didn't know you lost your mother Sakura. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He offered comfort.

They sat quietly for a few moments until Sakura spoke again. "I never missed a night for you. And I won't miss a night for Choji. He lost you, and now I'm not there either. He'll be at the hill tonight, telling me about his day and wishing me well on our mission. And probably hoping we are getting a long and that I will bring you home." She said just above a whisper.

"I'll leave you alone then to do whatever you need to do. I'll go wash our dishes and get the fire ready for us to sleep." He said standing up and starting to walk towards their camp site.

Sakura smiled. She just wanted to be alone for a little bit and thank goodness he understood that.

She spent another 20 minutes talking to Choji and just looking at the stars and then she headed back to camp. When she got back, Shikamaru was nowhere to be found. She was concerned. Cleaning their dishes shouldn't take that long.

She walked towards the stream hoping to find him. She looked everywhere and she couldn't find him. Then she saw something out of the corner of her eye towards the bushes. She rushed over only to find Shikamaru lying on the ground unconscious. He was soaking wet and the back of his head was bleeding. Sakura immediately ran to his side, shook him and yelled his name numerous times. She began healing him, unsure of what happened. Suddenly feeling guilty for having him go away earlier.


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING! There is slight nudity in this chapter! I don't really talk about it though. It's just kind of there. But it leads into next chapter the way I need it to.**

**So, I don't own Naruto. It makes me a sad panda.**

Sakura was doing her best to heal his head injury and scan the area for possible enemies at the same time. She didn't sense anything. She managed to get the bleeding to stop and most of the injury closed up. Now that he was out of the immediate danger of bleeding to death, she needed to get him back to their camp and near the fire. He was FREEZING cold and soaking wet. It was getting closer to winter to Konoha and the nights were starting to get bitter cold. If she didn't get him warmed up and quickly, he could slip into a coma and die of hypothermia.

She firmly gripped his arms and threw him over her shoulder. He was slightly heavier than he looked, not that Sakura wouldn't normally be able to handle that with her beastly strength. But she already used enough chakra healing him and scanning the area, she didn't want to waste it on something as silly as making it easier to carry him back to camp.

She ran back to camp as quickly as possible without losing her balance from carrying his extra weight. She made it into the small clearing and sat him down against a tree temporarily.

'I need to get the fire built back up so I can get him warm, and then I'll worry about getting more firewood.' She thought the plan out to herself. She threw the fire wood they had into the smoldering coals and fanned it. Once the fire was going steady she rummaged through her back for her sleeping bag she kept during this time of year just in case it got cold unexpectedly.

She grabbed both of their blankets and threw them on top of the sleeping bag. She walked a short distance and ran up a tree, grabbing leaves off the branches. After making a few trips, she had a good pile of leaves to use as insulation from the cold ground. She spread them out close to the fire and laid the 2 blankets on top.

She rummaged around and grabbed a few smaller stones and threw them towards the edge of the fire. She looked over the area, once she was satisfied that this would be good enough for the night, she made her way over to her still unconscious friend.

She lifted him up again and walked towards the area she just prepared. She gently laid him on the ground next to the makeshift bed. She drew in a big sigh. She knew he wouldn't be happy about this. She straddled his legs and pulled his upper body towards her. She took off his vest and threw it to the side where it landed with a loud slopping noise from how wet it was. She took off his sleeveless shirt and then his fishnet undershirt. His skin was freezing cold to the touch. She laid him back down and then proceeded to undo his pants. Once she had them undone, she got up and went down to his feet, removing his sandals and wraps. Then she started tugging his pants off.

Sakura was one to typically get very embarrassed about something like this. But right now she was in medic mode. She needed to get him out of all his wet cloths so she could get him warm.

She threw his pants in the pile with the rest of his wet cloths so all that was left were his boxers. She walked over to his bag and searched through it. She found another set of boxers and walked back over to him. She took a moment to scan the area again in more detail for any possible enemies. After finding none, she proceeded to remove the last bit of his cloths. She didn't have anything to dry him off with. Drying him off was just as important as getting him out of the wet cloths because it would slow the process of getting him warmed up.

She looked over herself. Her shirt and bindings were soaked from carrying him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She took off her shorts, leaving her boy-short underwear on. She began drying him off. She noticed he was starting to shiver less, which wasn't a good sign considering he was still an ice cube. She quickly put his other boxers on and picked him up, placing him gently on the make-shift bed on the side closest to the fire.

She waked over towards the fire and used a stick to get the stones out that she threw in a few minutes ago. She grabbed her gloves and used them to move the stones on to the blanket next to Shikamaru, close enough help keep him warm but far enough away that they wouldn't burn him. She unzipped the sleeping bag and laid it over him. She walked into the forest a short ways and found a small dead tree. Putting a little chakra into her fist she knocked it over. She drug it back to camp and began smashing it apart. She threw a pile of the tree shards on the fire to keep it going for a while.

She grabbed a few branches from the trees around them and used them to hang their cloths close to the fire to dry. She was starting to get a little chilly herself. She took her wet shirt off and hung it with the rest of the cloths. And then removed her bindings and her sandals, setting them on a stone to dry.

She walked over to her bag and dug around. They only things she could find were a fishnet undershirt and a tank top. She put those on and went back to Shikamaru. She knelt down beside him and checked his pulse, which was slow but still acceptable. She felt his head and didn't notice a fever. She did notice that his hair was still dripping wet though. She forgot about that. She pulled her tank top off, leaving her in her fishnet shirt, took his hair out of its pony tail and dried it off with the shirt. Once that was done she threw it over towards all the other cloths. She pulled down the blanket a bit and put her hand on his chest and noticed his skin was still like ice. She pulled the blanket back up.

They had already set traps earlier in the day so she didn't need to worry about any of those. She pulled the other side of the covers back and carefully moved the rocks away. She climbed under the covers and pulled them up around her. She moved up a little and pulled the sleeping back up even further so their heads were under it as well. She pulled him close, her chin resting on his damp hair. She wrapped her arms around him to keep him close to her warmth. She slowly let her chakra flow into him, monitoring his vitals and trying to coax him back into consciousness.

Listening to his steady breaths, Sakura drifted to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Maybe I should have put this all into Chapter 7. But I felt like it would have been too long and this was a good place to stop so I did. :P**

**I know last chapter was kind of blah. But I really didn't know how to get it to where I wanted without all that. So I hope you don't hate me! Hang in there; this should be a better chapter!**

****warning there are sexual activities in this chapter! So if you don't like that kind of thing, don't read this chapter, skip to the next when its released.**

**I do not own Naruto….still**

Shikamaru was dressed in a nice suit. He was at a party, he wasn't sure for what, but he really didn't care because he was here with Sakura. He was sitting at the table waiting for her to come back from the ladies room.

And then he saw her in the crowd. How could you miss bright pink hair right? He smirked. She was beautiful. Every time he saw her, whether dressed up or a sweaty mess after training, see seemed to look more stunning than the last time. She made her way over to him with a smile on her face. She leaned over and put her cheek against his.

"Wanna go?" She said, her hot breath caressing his ear. His entire body shivered.

"Will they mind?" He replied, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Do you care if they mind?" She asked him looking at him with those sparkling emerald eyes

He stood up, not answering her. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the party. They walked back to her place with his arm around her. They walked up the stairs to her door, she unlocked it and they walked in. Closing the door, they removed their shoes. She turned to him and he captured her lips with his. She moaned with delight.

He put his arms around her and lifted her, carrying her to her bedroom. She had been torturing him all night with the way she walked, swaying her hips provocatively. The way she licked her lips, making them shimmer under the lights. The way she gave him lustful looks, making the room unbearably warm. And now was his turn to return the favor.

When they made it to the bedroom he set her down gently on her feet. He pulled her close and continued his assault on her lips. He ran his hand up her back, causing her to shiver, and into her hair. Grabbing it he tilted her hair back and kissed her neck. She moaned loudly. He made his way down to her collarbone. She was gripping him tightly and breathing heavy. He grabbed her dress with his other hand and began raising it; he stopped kissing her neck while he brought the dress over her head, dropping it to the ground.

She pushed him backwards, losing his balance he fell onto the bed. She straddled his legs and lifted his upper body towards her. She kissed him hard while she unbuttoned his shirt. She removed it quickly, throwing it to the floor. Pushing him back down on the bed while she undid his pant. She jumped off of him temporarily and removed his pants, leaving him only in his boxers. She looked down, seeing the tent in his boxers she had created. She smirked and moved towards him. He grabbed her, pulling her towards him and rolled her on to the bed and ended on top of her.

"Slow it down Sakura, we have all night." Shikamaru said in a husky voice next to her ear and smirked as she whimpered.

He pulled her up slightly and removed her bra, throwing it to the floor with the rest of their discarded cloths. They were both left in just their underwear. He lay down on top of her, taking her nipple into his mouth. She gasped as he ran his tongue over it and pressed her hips up into his.

Sakura wasn't one to be submissive. She liked to be in control of most things. She was breaking him down slowly but surely, and if she kept this up he wouldn't be able to hold himself back for much longer.

She ran her nails up his back and that was the end of his restraint. He rolled them both to their side, pulled himself through his boxers and tugged her underwear to the side and pressed into her. She screamed out in ecstasy.

"Shikamaru!" He heard her yell. He kept on with his assault of her. "Shikamaru!" He felt her shaking him. He claimed her nipple with his lips again. He heard her gasp and her body stiffen. "I need you Sakura" He said just above a whisper.

He removed himself from her for a moment while he rolled her onto her back and removed her underwear in one swift movement. Before she could say another word, he kissed her deeply and pressed back into her. She moaned loudly into his lips.

She wrapped her legs around him, making him push deeper into her. He could feel himself getting closer to the end and from the sounds she was making, he was guessing she was almost there to. He broke their kiss; propped himself up on his elbows and pushed into her faster and harder. She screamed out as he pushed her over the edge, her entire body stiffening.

That was it for him; he yelled her name as he went over the edge. Pushing into her a few more times as they both came down. He pulled out of her and opened his eyes to look at her beautiful emerald eyes. She lay beneath him, sweaty, breathing heavy, her hair a mess and her fishnet twisted….

'Wait….fishnet? She didn't have fishnet on.' He thought to himself. He pushed himself back from her and looked around. They weren't in their bedroom. They were in the woods, lying on the ground next to the fire.

"Fuck." Was all he could think to say.

…

"Slow it down Sakura, we have all night." Shikamaru said in a husky voice next to her ear. Sakura's eyes jolted wide open as she woke up.

"What was that Shikamaru?" She asked him. She hadn't heard what he said.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She was a little confused. 'He must be sleep talking' she thought to herself. She closed her eyes wanting to get a little more sleep since she wasn't going anywhere with Shikamaru holding on to her like this.

Suddenly she felt his hips pressing against her. She could feel he was hard so it wasn't difficult to imagine what kind of dream he was having.

"Shikamaru." She said loudly. He kept on with his assault of her. "Shikamaru!" She yelled, shaking him. He claimed her nipple with his lips through her fishnet. She gasped and her entire body stiffened. She wasn't a virgin any more, but it had been a very long time since she had been with a guy. And this felt amazing.

She was just about to push him away when she heard him say softly, "I need you Sakura." That was all she really needed to hear, she let herself go.

He moved suddenly and she was rolled her back and he removed her underwear in one swift movement. Before she could say another word, he kissed her deeply and pressed into her. She moaned loudly into his lips.

She wrapped her legs around him, making him push deeper into her. She was struggling to hold on, she was almost there. She could tell he was close to by the urgency in his thrusts. He broke their kiss; propped himself up on his elbows and pushed into her faster and harder. She screamed out as he pushed her over the edge, her entire body stiffening.

That was it for him; he yelled her name as he went over the edge, pushing into her a few more times as they both came down from their high. He pulled out of her and opened his eyes. First she thought she saw a very loving, content look which was soon overtaken by confusion and fear. Suddenly, Sakura's heart was torn apart. 'I am so stupid to think he actually wanted me. He is probably thinking what a huge mistake that was.' She thought as tears came to her eyes.

He pushed himself back from her and looked around.

"Fuck." Was all she heard him say.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the long wait for an update. I was opening a couple new stores for my company and didn't really have any time. But here we go! **

**Updates will be sporadic but I will try by best!**

**I do not own Naruto**

Sakura grabbed her underwear pushed her self away from Shikamaru quickly. She stepped into her panties and walked over towards the fire, keeping her back to Shikamaru to hide the tears falling.

'I am so stupid. He was probably hallucinating from the high fever. Now he probably thinks I'm a slut…. I can't believe I did that. What is Choji going to say? He is going to be disappointed with me..' With that thought she remembered back to Choji mentioning he thought she and Shikamaru would look good together and he had always waited for them to get together.

She checked the cloths to see if they were dry yet. She grabbed Shikamaru's cloths. She turned around to throw his cloths to him. Her entire body tensed as she realized he was right behind her, their faces only inches apart. Neither of them spoke.

He saw the wetness on her cheeks and felt awful. He needed to tell her about his feelings for her. That he has always had feelings for her. Finally Shikamaru broke the uncomfortable silence "Sakura…. I need to tell you someth-" He was promptly interrupted.

"I understand Shikamaru. I'm a medic nin, there's no need to explain." Sakura said putting on a big generic smile. But that still couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes.

"What? What does being a medic nin have to do with anything?" Shikamaru asked slightly confused but never taking his eyes away from hers.

"When you were by the river, somehow you ended up in the water and unconscious. Potentially from the high fever you had." Saying that, she brought her hand up to his forehead. "Which is still lingering. You were just having a hallucination and acting on it." She finished, handing him his clothing and turning to grab her own.

"But Sakur-" Shikamaru tried again Sakura cut him off

"No, really Shikamaru, its ok. Honestly." Sakura said looking at the ground and walked away.

"But I really do like you…" He said to no one in particular as she was already too far away to hear.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru whispered to himself bringing his hand up to his face. He began putting his cloths on and settling back down next to the fire.

He looked up as he saw Sakura approaching. She had gotten dressed and had her medic pack with her. She threw it down on the ground next to him and began rummaging about in it.

"There it is!" Sakura said excitedly, taking out a container. She opened it and shook out a pill. She held it out on her hand for Shikamaru to take as well as a cup of water.

"That is for your fever. Now that you are actually awake and functional, I can have you take the proper medicine to get rid of it for now. I think we should head back to Konoha since I am still not sure what caused it in the first place." She said with a hint of concern. "We completed our mission anyway. No point in staying out here." She smiled and stood back up, turning away from him and walking back towards camp.

Sakura finished cleaning up the area and walked back to the fire seeing that Shikamaru already had put it out and covered it with dirt and rocks.

Sakura threw him his pack. "You ok to travel or do you need more time?" She asked him, acting like nothing happened. Shikamaru was smarter than that. He knew it was crushing her, but he wanted to respect her decision and not push the issue.

"Don't worry about me Sakura, I'll be fine." Shikamaru reassured her.

"Great! Then let's head back home. We're only about a day out." Sakura said with a smile. It was the most fake smile he had ever seen. And it looked terrible on her face he thought to himself.

Sakura started off and he was quickly on her heels.

They both ran hard, only taking short breaks for Sakura to check on his fever. Even with the medication she gave him, the fever wasn't leaving.

Finally the gates were in site. The two slowed down and walked up to the guard nin.

"Sakura! I didn't expect to see you back so soon. Miss me that much?" Said a very excited Konohamaru.

Sakura flashed a big smile and laughed "Hai, I couldn't stand to stay away from you any longer." Sakura responded, the sarcasm very notable.

She leaned down and signed her and Shikamaru back into the village. "Where is Moegi?" Sakura inquired. "You two usually are on post together."

"She didn't seem to be feeling well this morning. Tsunade told me to let her rest for the day and if she isn't feeling better by the end of my shift to take her to the hospital to be examined."

Sakura's brown cringed in worry. "It could just be that she needs rest, but with how far along she is I am a bit concerned. She really can't afford to get sick right now." Sakura brushed some hair out of her face.

Talking of Moegi potentially being ill reminded her to check Shikamaru for a fever. She grabbed the man, bringing him close. He was stunned by her sudden movements. She brought her forearm up to his forehead and felt his checks with her hands. He blushed at her closeness.

"When does the next shift start?" She asked, seemingly in deep concentration.

"A few hours" Konohamaru replied confused.

She stepped back away from Shikamaru, grabbed a pen and paper off the registration desk and began writing.

She turned back to the boys, handing Konohamaru the piece of paper.

"I need you to escort Shikamaru to the hospital. The details of his condition are on that slip. I will report back to Naruto and have a replacement sent for the rest of your shift. Then meet me at your house and I will check on Moegi." Sakura said, very much in medic mode.

"Hai" Konohamaru responded and turned to the other guard nin, explaining what was happening.

Sakura turned to leave. Shikamaru suddenly got a feeling, like something was going to happen. And he's learned over the years to listen to that feeling.

He reached out and grabbed Sakura's arm. Her eyes widened in surprised as she looked at him.

"Something isn't right Sakura." He said sternly

"What do you mean? Are you ok?" Suddenly she was back on him, feeling his face, probing him with her chakra.

He swatted her hands away. "Not me. I have a bad feeling. Something isn't right." He hoped that was a good enough explanation.

Sakura nodded. "I know…. I've had the same feeling since we got to the gate. Get to the hospital, I'll check back with you as soon as I can, ok?" She reached over and squeezed his hand.

He squeezed back and then his hand was empty, cold, and she was gone.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on man; let's get you to the hospital before you get any worse. You look in bad shape." Konohamaru said as they began walking into the village.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again all! I finally have some time to pound out a chapter here. Hope all is well with everyone! After a couple of PMs from people wanting to find out more about me as a person, which is weird lol I'm just a random person, I decided to make a facebook page for my fans. You can now follow me on facebook! Link is in my profile.**

Sakura moved quickly through the village heading towards the tower. She had a really bad feeling. She felt very unnerved and she needed to figure out what it was about. She pushed chakra to her legs and feet and sped off to the Hokage tower.

She rushed inside, scaring some of the civilian workers and sprang up the stairs quickly. Shizune felt her coming and was already knocking on the Hokage's office door as Sakura rounded the corner. She heard her mentor commanding to enter and Shizune opened the door for her just as she was coming up on the door.

"Thank you Shizune!" she said rushed as she entered.

The door was closed behind her. "Shishou, Naruto." Sakura greeted as she strode up to the desk.

Naruto immediately noticed the tension in her eyes. "What's wrong Sakura-chan. You weren't supposed to be back so quickly." He asked her, worry lacing his voice.

"Shikamaru is sick. He passed out last night and has been running a fever. Everything I give him isn't working, it's just taking the edge off. But then as soon as I turn around it just keeps coming back worst than the last. I had Konohamaru take him immediately to the hospital, so Naruto, we will need a replacement guard right away." Sakura stood in front of the two with obviously more to say. She just wasn't sure if Naruto was to hear this kind of information yet. He couldn't possibly understand the implications of Shikamaru's unknown illness.

"That can't be all Sakura. It's pretty obvious by the face you have." Naruto questioned her.

Sakura looked to her mentor to see how she should proceed. Tsunade motioned for her to sit. Sakura nodded and let herself sink into one of the seats.

"I'm not sure to be completely honest. But I think you need to call in Shizune and seal the room."

"But why? What's goin-" Naruto began but was quickly

"SHIZUNE! GET IN HERE NOW!" Tsunade yelled loudly.

No one spoke as Shizune came quietly into the room and closed the door. She performed seals and the perimeter of the room flashed blue. Shizune quickly took a seat next to Sakura.

"What's going on?" Shizune asked as she looked cautiously at everyone.

"I'm not sure. At this point I am only speculating." Sakura stated

"What are we speculating about?" Tsunade asked.

"What does speculating mean?" Naruto questioned.

Everyone stopped and looked at him. "What?" Naruto asked very seriously.

"Any way. Shikamaru came down with an illness during our mission, as I had already stated. I seriously gave him everything I could to break the fever and nothing worked. Not only that but…." She paused "He either hallucinated or was acting out something in his dream. I am unsure at this time. My concern is who he had come in contact with when he came back from his mission."

Sakura sighed loudly and continued "It could be nothing. But I have a really bad feeling. Shikamaru did as well. What if he is contagious and passed it on to someone." Sakura rubbed her temples.

"We have a problem.." Naruto stated quietly.

"Why?" Sakura's eyes shot up to her blonde team mate.

"Konahamaru and Moegi were on guard duty when he Shikamaru came back. They walked him to see us." Naruto said somberly. He was rarely this quiet and composed but Sakura could see the genuine concern in his eyes.

"We need to put them and anyone else he has been in contact with in isolation until we figure out what's going on. And I need to go to Moegi immediately, Konahamaru said she wasn't feeling well today." With that everyone stood up.

"I'll bring Moegi to the hospital right away, get a room ready for her." Sakura said as she jumped out the window.

Everyone followed her out the window and they split ways with Sakura. Sakura was running across the roof tops as fast as she could without getting careless. As she got closer she was getting more and more anxious. She didn't even bother with the door when she finally reached her destination, she slipped into an upstairs window.

"Moegi?" Sakura called out but got no answer in return.

She had made plenty of house visits to Konahamaru's house and knew her way around well enough. She began a sprint around. She didn't find anything upstairs so she began her way down to the lower level. And that's when she heard it.

She stopped dead in her tracks, unsure if she heard something or not. As soon as it started again she knew she needed to hurry. She heard the painful moaning coming from the living room area. As soon as she entered the room she saw Moegi on the couch. She kneeled down next to the girl and immediately began assessing her health, pressing her hands to Moegi's temples and then moving down to her stomach.

Moegi's cloths and hair were soaked in sweat. When Sakura put a little pressure on her very pregnant stomach, Moegi's moaning got more distressed.

"Moegi?" Sakura was met with silence. "Moegi, its Sakura sweetie. You are running a high fever. I am going to check out the baby ok?"

She knew she wouldn't get a response. She proceeded to let a little chakra flow into Moegi's stomach and into the baby. Sakura withdrew her hands quickly with a gasp. The baby's heart was barely beating. It was clearly in distress. It was then Sakura noticed a familiar chakra signature outside the home. She dashed to the front door. She needed help.

She tore the door open, grabbing the person and pulling him into the room.

"Kakashi, I need bucket of hot water and clean towels. I need to deliver this baby right now." Sakura ordered as she pushed him towards the kitchen to do as she asked.

After a few moments he entered the room again with everything she asked for and Sakura had Moegi prepped.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Sakura. Shouldn't you do this at the hospital?" Kakashi asked, clearly concerned and by the wide-eyed look on his face, she could tell he was scared out of his mind.

"The baby is dying Kakashi, I need to do this now or he will lost and Moegi might not be too far behind." Sakura put her hands on Moegi's stomach again as her hands began to glow green.

"We are going to deliver this baby together Kakashi. Once the baby is delivered, then you are going to take Moegi immediately to the hospital. I will be right beside you with the baby." Sakura stopped for a moment and looked right into his eyes.

"This is really important Kakashi, we cannot come in contact with anyone. This is a potential unknown illness. By helping me with this you will be put in isolation with the rest of us until we can figure this out. Do you understand?" Sakura's eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

"I won't let you do this alone Sakura. Illness or not, you have me for the long haul." Kakashi said with this signature eye crinkle.

She reached over and gave him a hug before going back to Moegi. "Grab one of the wash cloths out of the drawer by the sink and put cold water on it, then wipe some of the sweat off her face, I am going to start inducing labor." Sakura said without looking at him, completely focused on the job in front of her.

Kakashi left the room without argument and began running the cold water as he looked for a clean cloth out of the drawer Sakura advised him of. Just as he was wringing out the cloth he heard a scream. He ran into the other room and saw Moegi thrashing around. Sakura saw him in the doorway and quickly told him what to do.

"Kakashi, I need you to hold her down and put that washcloth on her to help cool down her fever. Wipe off the sweat. This is going to be painful for her so I need you to keep her as still as possible." Sakura said with a wisdom that just astounded Kakashi. His students have grown up so much.

He started on his task and felt her begin to thrash again. "Sakura, here comes another." Kakashi gave her a heads up. She nodded at him as the green glow around her hands became brighter.

"She seems to be moving the most around the contractions. I am going to use this to our advantage and contract her muscles more and hopefully that will push the baby out naturally instead of me having to cut into her stomach. Let me know when the next one comes." She requested and Kakashi nodded without words.

Time passed, they weren't sure how much, when suddenly Sakura saw the progress they desperately needed. "I see the head Kakashi!" She yelled.

"She's becoming pale Sakura, we need to get moving." Kakashi sounded worried.

"Just a few more pushes and he should be out and we can be on our way." Sakura said very hopefully.

And she was right, a couple of pushes and a lot of teamwork later, and she was holding a baby boy. But this was not the joyous event anyone would hope for. The baby was very blue and his heart beat was no longer noticeable.

Kakashi began cleaning him up while Sakura began furiously working on him, trying to stimulate his heart into beating. When he was done he handed her a clean dry blanket and had one of his own as well.

"Wrap him and go, I'll be right behind you." Kakashi said as he wrapped up Moegi in a blanket and began to lift her.

They ran out of the house and kept the fastest pace they have ever had on the way to the hospital. As they neared, they saw that the entrance was cleared of all people except for Naruto. As soon as he noticed them he waved.

"Emergency 3" He yelled to them.

She took this as an indication of what room was prepared for them in an effort to keep them from contact with anyone. She didn't spare him a look or a thank you as her and Kakashi rushed into the hospital and toward the room Naruto sent them to. As they made their way, there was no one in site. Naruto was behind them but that was the only person in the hallway.

Suddenly Sakura veered to the right and into a room, Kakashi followed and Moegi was swiftly taken from his arms and laid on a hospital bed. She was being checked out by Shizune and Tsunade was already by Sakura's side as Naruto was running out of the room to get a baby bed.

"Sakura what's happening?" a voice came into the room. "Moegi!" She knew it was Konahamaru. This was the last thing they needed.

"Kakashi" Sakura called for her old sensei. He walked up beside her and bent down to get closer. "Keep him calm, keep him in line and keep an eye on him. If he gets out of hand I want him out 1of here immediately." Sakura whispered.

"Of course Sakura." Kakashi said, making his way over to the boy who was holding his wife's hand and stroking her face while Shizune continued to work on her. He had yet to notice his baby in the corner of the room being blocked from view by two of the strongest, scariest women in the village.

Naruto entered the room once again but this time he had a baby incubator. He rolled it over to the girls and Konahamaru didn't even notice, he was so focused on his wife.

Minutes rolled by and the tension was building.

"I'm calling it Sakura. Time of death-" "NO! I WILL NOT GIVE UP! I WILL NOT LET HIM DIE!" Tsunade was interrupted by Sakura's screaming.

"What's going on?" Konahamaru suddenly realized that there were more people in the room than thought originally. Kakashi put a hand on the boy's shoulder reassuringly.

"Everything is going to be ok." Kakashi said in a fatherly tone as Sakura was chanting in the corner of the room.

"Come on little guy. Come on. You can do it. Just take a breath for me. Just one. You can do it." Everyone could see her legs shaking from chakra exhaustion.

Shikamaru then entered the room into sudden chaos.

Kakashi was holding Konahamaru back and Sakura was practically yelling in chocking sobs at a baby.

"Moegi." Shizune said stunned as the girls eyes opened.

"Konahamaru." Moegi said weekly as she reached her hand out to her husband.

He stopped struggling against Kakashi and ran to his wife.

"Yes baby I'm here. Everything is fine." He said as he stroked her face with a smile.

"There is something wrong with the baby. I don't feel him anymore." She said distressed.

He looked up to Shizune. Her eyes wide, not sure what to say. Suddenly they all heard the loud wailing of a baby. They all looked towards the corner of the room.

"Yes, that's it little guy. Cry it out. Scream it out to the world. YOUR ALIVE!" Sakura said sobbing.

Sakura wrapped the baby back up in its blanket and handed him to Tsunade. Her mentor walked the baby over to the parents and laid him down on Moegi's chest.

"Congratulations. It's a boy" Sakura said turning around. Suddenly the world went black as she fell to the ground.

She was out cold before Shikamaru caught her before she hit the floor. Tsunade walked over and put fingers to her student's temple and let the chakra flow into her.

"It's only chakra exhaustion thank goodness. Shikamaru, please put her in your room for now. She deserves a good rest after what she just did." Tsunade said very softly.

"Yes Lady Hokage." He lifted her and began walking out of the room.

He laid her down in his bed, removed her sandals and her over shirt, the skirt she had over her shorts and all the weapon holsters she had on. He covered her up and tucked her in, tucking some hair behind her ear.

'Her hair is soft' he thought to himself as he let his fingers trail down her cheeks.

"You're amazing." He whispered to her as she slept and kissed her forehead before he left to room to congratulate the new parents.


End file.
